After 20 years tutoring students at Lincoln University, Pat Pollock is ready to retire. But she’s definitely not ready to slow down.

Pollock, a reading and writing tutor at the Center for Academic Enrichment, will retire at the end of the current semester, but she plans on continuing her work as a tutor after retiring, saying she plans to return as a volunteer.

Pollock, who has also taught several classes at Lincoln University, said she started at Lincoln in 1991 with a part-time job and loved being able to work so closely with students through tutoring.

“What I really like about it is the interaction with students one on one,” Pollock said. “I like that a lot better than being in front of a classroom.”

Pollock said she’s always loved her job, but with the university going through some reorganization Pollock said her job description would be changing drastically, which she took as a sign of it being time to retire.

She said she would miss interacting with the roughly 40 students per week a tutor at the center will work with, but by coming back as a volunteer she’ll be able to continue the job she’s loved so much.

“I just feel like we’re making a difference here,” Pollock said. “There was something to look forward to in coming to work every day. I never wanted to stay home.”

On top of volunteering, where Pollock hopes to focus on two of her favorite subjects, history and political science, Pollock will work as a docent, which is a volunteer who leads public tours, at the Governor’s Mansion. She also plans to continue in a book club with her colleagues, as well as involvement in a couple of groups she helped start at Lincoln, including the Zebra Sisterhood, which she described as a mixed race bridge club.

Pollock also plans to spend plenty of time with her four grandchildren and hopes to fit in one of her favorite summer past times.

“My favorite thing to do is hang out on the Osage River in the summer,” Pollock said.